The present invention relates to games of chance. In particular, it relates to a video wagering game and device for playing a video wagering game.
Games which involve the pooling of wagers and the determination of one or more winners based upon the chance selection of numbers go back thousands of years. Large scale, public numbers games have existed for over four hundred years. The first known public numbers game which paid money prizes was La Lotto di Firenze, which began in Florence, Italy, in 1530. The game was soon followed by similar games in Genoa, Venice, and other areas in Italy.
In 1870, when the Italian Republics were consolidated, the games were combined, and the Italian National Lottery was created. In the modern day version of the Italian Lottery, ten sets of five numbers each are drawn from a pool of numbers each week. Each set of numbers is identified by the name of a city in Italy. Players wager on up to five numbers for a particular city. The top prize, which pays 1,000,000 to 1 odds, is awarded for selecting all five numbers correctly for any one city. Smaller prizes are paid for fewer correct numbers.
In the Italian Lottery, a wheel bearing the numbers 1 to 90 is spun to determine the winning outcomes. In presently known daily numbers games, some readily available number is often used as a winning outcome. As an example, the last three digits of the total daily handle at some race track or some predetermined three digits from the total number of shares traded that day on the New York Stock Exchange is used. Lotteries in the United States date back to the early 1800's. At that time, privately owned, government sponsored lotteries flourished with over $66 million wagered in this way in 1832 alone. Prestigious colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, and William and Mary used government approved lotteries to raise money for construction and equipment. By the late 1800's, lotteries had fallen out of favor. By this time, most states had passed legislation barring such wagering. Federal laws were also passed forbidding interstate transportation of lottery tickets.
In 1963, New Hampshire was the first state to legalize a modern-day state lottery. Since then, a number of other states have also legalized state lotteries. Interstate lotteries have even come into existence. All of the present state lotteries offer one or two basic game formats. Namely, a daily numbers type game and a weekly lotto type game.
In daily numbers type games, the player wagers on a specific three digit number, typically between 000 and 999. Once a day, a winning number is drawn. Generally, the winning number is selected using a number of sets of ten balls, numbered 0-9 consecutively, with each digit being randomly selected from such a set. Daily numbers type games typically pay 600:1 odds for a correct match. Some variations of the game are conducted using other than three digits. Four digit games are the most popular variation. To win, the player's selection must match the number drawn.
In daily numbers games, several betting options are available. For example, a box bet, a back-up bet, and pair bets are often available in addition to straight bets. In a straight bet, each digit of the number drawn must appear in the order of the number drawn in order to win the game. In a box bet, the digits comprising the numbers are considered individually, and all possible combinations of the digits are part of the wager. For example, if the player wagers on 123 boxed, then he would win if the selected number were any of the following: 123, 132, 213, 231, 312, or 321. Of course, a boxed bet pays less than a straight bet.
A back-up bet is a combination of a straight and box bet, with half of the wager applied to each. If a wager is placed on 123 backed-up and 123 is the winning outcome, then half of the wager would be paid at the straight rate, and half at the boxed rate. If, on the other hand, the winning outcome is 321, then only the backed-up half of the wager would be paid and this would be at the boxed rate.
A pair bet is made on two of the player's three selected digits. For three digits, there are three pairs; namely, the front, split, and back pairs. In the example above, if the player's number is 123, then the front pair wins if the outcome is 12X, where X is any number between zero and nine. The split pair wins if the outcome is 1X3 and the back pair wins if the outcome is X23.
In weekly lotto type games, a set of numbers, generally between 36 and 55 in number, is provided. The player selects a subset of numbers to play, usually five or six, chosen from the set of numbers. Periodically, the winning numbers are drawn. Most commonly, this type of game is played once per week. Generally, the winning numbers are randomly drawn from the original set of numbers (including the numbers in the subset of numbers chosen to play) using a set of numbered balls with each number in the range of possible outcomes appearing on only one ball. To win, some number of the player's selections in the subset must match the numbers drawn. Typically, at least three numbers must match to win a prize. If all of the player's numbers match the outcomes drawn, the player wins a jackpot prize.
The actual play of the numbers games described above is carried out by players purchasing tickets from a number of remote locations. The players may either select their own numbers or permit the ticket dispensing device to automatically generate a subset of numbers chosen to play.
Commonly, up to five subsets of numbers, each subset being printed on a line, can be played at a time and printed on a single ticket. The winning outcomes are typically determined at a location separate from the location where the player placed the wager and take place later in time. Players holding winning tickets can claim their prizes by redeeming the tickets at the place of purchase or with the state lottery commission, depending upon the size of the prize. In order to determine if a player has won a prize, the player must first wait until a period of time sufficient to accumulate a jackpot of a suitable size has gone by, and then must wait until some form of media announces the winning numbers. Typically, this information is conveyed by television broadcast, radio broadcast, in daily newspapers, and via computer networks.
Players who do not take the time to compare their subset of numbers selected to the drawn winning numbers will not collect their prize because they won't know that they won. Since up to a week can elapse from the time a ticket is purchased until the winning numbers are selected, the player may either forget that he purchased a ticket or may misplace it.
All such games have the common element of utilizing a periodic, single central drawing to determine the winning outcomes for an entire jurisdiction. The jackpot must be shared with all players holding winning tickets. The success of the game is dependent upon selling a sufficient number of tickets during the time interval between drawings to fund the winning outcomes. The actual prizes may be either fixed or variable, based on the number of tickets sold. Typically, the daily number type prizes are fixed, while the weekly lotto top prizes are variable.
Lottery games are forms of wagering which have the disadvantages of (1) an extremely low probability of winning; (2) multiple winners and the requirement that winners share the prize; (3) requiring that the player wait for a central drawing; (4) requiring that the player rely on the media to determine if the player has won; (5) placing the burden on the player to come forward at a later date to claim winnings; and (6) having the size of the prize dependent solely upon participation.
In addition to lottery-type games, casino-type number games are known. One example of a popular numbers game is Keno. In the video version of Keno, a set of eighty symbols, numbered 1-80, consecutively, is provided. The player may play up to ten numbers of his or her choice, depending upon the version of the video Keno game being played. The same wager is placed regardless of whether one or ten numbers are played. Consequently, the payout will vary depending upon the size of the subset of numbers being played. Typically the set of numbers from which the subset of numbers to play are drawn includes the numbers 1 through 80. After the subset of numbers chosen to play have been selected, a subset of twenty numbers are randomly drawn from the original set of eighty numbers, including those selected by the player, and compared to the subset of numbers being played. In Keno, the size of the subset of numbers being played is always smaller than the subset of numbers randomly drawn.
It would be desirable to provide a numbers wagering game where the outcome is determined immediately, which provides multiple wagering opportunities, which can be played on a video wagering device in a casino environment and has features that are similar enough to a daily and weekly lottery game to encourage frequent play and provide player excitement.